As with the last time, I decided to put the eggs into lockdown on the evening before the fourteenth day. I could see that a few of the eggs were rocking. My take on this is that the chicks are getting into position to hatch. I don’t want any to hatch with the rails still in the incubator.
I heard a peep this morning. Each time I incubate eggs and hear a first peep, I wonder if I’ve lost my mind and am hearing things. It’s always so faint at first. And then it gets louder. So maybe this time I’ll trust that it was an actual peep.
This doesn’t mean any will hatch. But boy! Am I excited!
Excited, but not quite ready. I need to get the brooder set up in the bottom level of the indoor hutch, and maybe an extra brooder in one of the totes. Or two.
The tax refund this year is going to turn into the new coop and run setup. It’ll be one central shed with coops, and runs on the outside of that. Then I can finally move the feed and other supplies to a dedicated area, and more efficiently clean their digs and control the climate (a very little).
At least the extra long to-do-right-now list will keep my mind occupied, and not able to worry so much about the eggs.
These eggs are from the newest two coveys, one of which I need to add to. The genetics should be excellent, and the roosters are not from the same sources of eggs as their hens. That’s important to me, as I want to simply hatch from our flock going forward. Currently, only one of my outdoor pens has mostly siblings in it, and it is my strongest covey. They were the first ones I hatched. They are huge, beautifully colored, and somewhat friendly.
I’m not sure how many from this batch are fertile, but there are at least some. Now to see which ones, if any, hatch.
